BENTONVILLE, Ark.—Southern Nazarene gave the top-seeded Golden Suns everything they wanted, and more, but ultimately fell just short in a 2-0 extra innings defeat that brought SNU's season to an end at the Great American Conference semifinals.
Southern Nazarene (25-25) got a second straight dominating outing from Jennifer Romero-Ivarson in the circle. After earning a 1-0 shutout victory yesterday, Romero-Ivarson picked up right where she left off. She twirled seven more shutout innings on Saturday before Arkansas Tech (38-17) finally broke through in the eighth inning. She finished the tournament with 15 innings pitched, 15 strikeouts, 10 hits, and just 2 runs against her as she was named to the All-Tournament team.
Romero-Ivarson was countered with the GAC Pitcher of the Year, Shannon Lasey, The two matched each other pitch for pitch as they each gave up just 3 hits and no runs through seven innings. Neither team even cracked the hit column until Tech's leadoff double in the fifth inning.
Despite struggling to earn base hits, both teams had chances throughout the late innings of the game. The teams combined to leave 14 runners on base over the final four innings of the game. Arkansas Tech's best chance to score came in the fifth inning after they put runners on second and third with just one out. Hailey Evans made a spectacular diving stop, though, and fired a strike to first base that held the runners at bay. Romero-Ivarson showed her appreciation for the incredible defensive effort with a strikeout to end the inning. Evans' great play in the field all weekend, along with her pair of hits, also earned her a spot on the All-Tournament team.
SNU put two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth as well, but a two-out popup ended that threat. The Storm again pushed two runners into scoring position in the sixth, this time with only one out. Arkansas Tech's Shannon Lasey continued to show why she earned GAC Pitcher of the Year, though, picking up a huge strikeout for the second out of the inning and forcing yet another inning ending popup.
In the top of the seventh inning, Romero-Ivarson worked around a single and a two-out walk with her seventh punch out of the game, giving SNU an opportunity to win it in the bottom half of the inning. Despite putting two more runners on base, the winning run was not meant to be as a sharp grounder to third base resulted in a 5-3 double-play that sent the game to extra innings.
The GAC Player of the Year, Tymber Riley ledoff the eighth for Arkansas Tech and immediately proved why she is one of the best hitters in the conference. She absolutely blasted a pitch over the left-centerfield wall, finally breaking Romero-Ivarson's scoreless streak. From there, Arkansas Tech's bats seemed to awaken as they tacked on another insurance run. They had three hits in the eighth inning after just three through the entire first seven innings.
Down two runs, SNU did not back down at all and came out swinging. Liana Heshiki and Natalie Jones both ripped hard ground balls, but unluckily hit them right at someone and had nothing to show for it. Down to their final out, SNU still showed fight as Caitlyn Curlee (Bates) and Emma Swearingen each ripped their own ground balls back up the middle. Their ground balls found the outfield, putting the tying run at first base. With two away and two runners on base, Hailie Fellers stepped to the plate. She got a hold of a pitch and roped a missile to centerfield. Once again, it was unluckily right at the center fielder, as she made the play and ended the ballgame.
The loss brings an end to an incredible season for the Crimson Storm, who finished fourth in the GAC, the best the program has done since joining the league in 2014. They earned a program-best 20 GAC wins and finished .500 overall for the second consecutive season, something they had never done in the DII era prior to last season.
With a lot of talented underclassmen on the roster, SNU will look to build on this great season and push for an even higher finish next season.
